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A March 24, 2005 report on MSNBC's show Countdown, as part of MSNBC's "Faith in America" week, discussed faith healers and included ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross on a skeptical note:
[REPORTER MONICA] NOVOTNY (voice-over): But not everyone believes. Dr. Gilbert Ross says while some may be healed, their cures can be explained.

A March 2005 Michigan Review article by Daniel Krawiec, about Michigan University's funding of the eco-radical group PIRGIM, mentioned the American Council on Health's position on mercury risks:
So what might explain groups like PIRGIM's campaigns to eliminate power plant mercury emissions?

Cereals are being attacked again, but this time for a good reason. Cereal companies are using the obesity crisis to help their marketing. There is a common misconception that sugar in and of itself leads to obesity, but this is not the case. Many new cereals that have less sugar do not contain fewer calories, which means that they will not be particularly helpful for weight loss.

Who's to blame for carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, persistent dioxins, PCBs, vinyl chloride, perchlorates, elevated concentrations of nitrates in stream water throughout the world, and unusual fish kills? The initial knee-jerk reaction is to lay the blame on present-day humans (read: ourselves), endlessly accused of fouling our own nest, and there's some truth to this. No doubt we humans are responsible for many egregious environmental actions, but here's something new.

Congress heard from Major League Baseball (MLB) players regarding their use of steroids, and none have proven to be the heroes they claim to be. Baseball is not shaping up to be the great American sport some believed. Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to his steroid use, but he has no regrets about it. He even vetoed a bill that would require California high school coaches to teach about the dangers of steroid use.

An article in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (1) adds to the mounting evidence (which ACSH has frequently pointed out) that antioxidant supplements are not the potent health-promoters that proponents claim. The study indicates they may even increase the risk of one of the very conditions that some claim they prevent.

For nearly three years, consumers have been warned about potential health risks from acrylamide, a chemical formed when foods containing high levels of carbohydrate are cooked at high temperatures (frying or baking, for example). Since its discovery in food by Swedish scientists, acrylamide has provided alarmist groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) with a new focus for their bogus health scares.

The scare story about vaccines containing mercury and causing autism is still with us, as a recent story on Fox 5 news here in New York City -- and a new book on the topic from St. Martin's Press -- suggest. (Indeed, the Fox 5 story caused such an outpouring of fear from parents that Fox 5 decided...to run it again.)

A tobacco company CEO appointed to the board of trustees of a reputable cancer institute? It's perhaps as outlandish as Time, Inc. being given an award for advancing tobacco control.

The Roanoke Times set off a unexpected scandal when it ran a photo of a Virginia woman who has (unwarranted) worries about the effect jackhammering on her street might have on her unborn baby -- but is, as seen in the photo (below), a smoker, a far more serious health threat.

A March 8 Reuters article entitled "Milk Alone Not Best for Bones" reported on a study that concluded that milk and other dairy products do not promote bone health in children over age seven. What Reuters neglected to note was the fact that the study's sponsoring organization, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), has a blatant anti-dairy agenda. That doesn't mean their study shouldn't be evaluated on its merits, but such potential conflicts of interest would probably be quickly noted in the case of, say, a study that came to "pro-industry" conclusions.

The New York Times in its March 4th editorial, "Experts and the Drug Industry," has it wrong. Recently, the FDA decided to allow the drugs Celebrex, Bextra, and Vioxx to be marketed despite research showing they seem to increase the risk of heart problems. The Times complains that this FDA decision is suspect because a "vast majority" of the scientists on the panel had financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry and ten of the thirty-two panel members had consulted or received research support from the three drug companies involved in this judgment.

Assessing the Safety of the Chemical PFOA
Project Coordinator: Rivka Weiser
Editor: Gilbert L. Ross, M.D.
The American Council on Science and Health gratefully acknowledges the comments and contributions of the following individuals, who reviewed all or part of the longer position paper on which this booklet is based:
Larry Beeson, Dr.P.H., Loma Linda University 
Hinrich L. Bohn, Ph.D., University of Arizona
Joseph F. Borzelleca, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University 
John Doull, M.D., Ph.D., University of Kansas 

A March 1, 2005 Family Practice News debate about whether to remove red meat from our diets included a "no" argument from ACSH's executive and medical director with the following cautionary introduction (but please check out

A March 8, 2005 article in the Irish Times describes people who ate exclusively at McDonald's to demonstrate, contrary to the film Super-Size Me, that it is possible to do so and lose weight. The article quotes ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava:
TechCentralStation contacted Ruth Kava, director of nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and asked her to validate the results of Whaley and Weavers' McDiets.

A March 4, 2005 article by Kirsten Boyd Goldberg on CancerLetter.com -- about the Legacy Foundation dubbing Time Inc. an anti-tobacco "hero" despite their magazines running many tobacco ads -- quotes an article on the topic by ACSH's Rivka Weiser:

A March 1, 2005 Editor and Publisher article by Brian Orloff about John Tierney taking William Safire's place on the New York Times editorial page (alongside his ideologically-opposed ex-girlfriend, Maureen Dowd) mentions the objections of Columbia Journalism Review's Zach Roth and, in the process, Roth's objections to ACSH (which accepts donations from anyone willing to give -- including you, or for that matter Greenpeace -- as long as no strings are attached to our research):

A February 23, 2005 article by Nancy Wang in the Stanford Daily described student attitudes toward smoking, noting some of the risks and citing ACSH:

An article by Colette Bouchez on WebMD.com February 16, 2005 describes fear of artificial sweeteners, with some calming and cautious words from ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava, noting the list of artificial sweeteners tested and approved as safe:

Steve Forbes' "Fact and Comment" column for February 28, 2005 talks about the tragedy of the ban on DDT and mentions the views of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan:

This piece appeared in National Review Online.
The FDA has its heavy regulatory hand on almost one quarter of the nation's economy, so its leadership is of deep concern to all Americans, not merely those involved in public health. Recently, President Bush nominated Lester Crawford as permanent FDA commissioner. Although Crawford has been acting chief of the agency for much of the past four years, everyone is wondering what his approach will be now that he's the boss.

A research report in the March 2 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) pointed out that many members of National Football League (NFL) teams (57%, to be exact) had Body Mass Indices (BMIs) over 30 -- numbers that would put them in the range of body weight considered obese. Similarly, the March 9 edition of the Kansas City Star had an article listing the BMIs of a number of National Basketball Association (NBA) players -- who also came in at or close to 30.

As the demand for -- and cost of -- prescription drugs in America soar, the Internet marketplace for medications grows. Seniors, especially, are being taken in and blinded by their desire for more and cheaper drugs.

Natural chemicals were found in whale blubber by three researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). After removing a beached whale, selecting a large sample of fat and then six months of lab work to remove various materials to get to the chemicals in their pure form, the researchers found what they were looking for. Emma Teuten, Li Xu, and Christopher Reddy found that these chemicals showed a detectable radiocarbon signal, only found in natural sources. That means that the chemicals were not the residual of manmade pollution.

The often-claimed "right to know" -- now being espoused by anti-biotech activists seeking the location of biotech testing areas -- cannot be fully understood without the related principle, the "need to know."